The presence of fathers in the delivery room is a 20th century occurrence. Historically, the role of the father in pregnancy was that of a “sperm donor”. All deliveries, until the 20th Century, were taken place at home. From time immemorial lay midwives attended the parturient. Towards the middle of the 19th century physicians became part of the picture and, in part, displaced … [Read more...]
Fertility 101 ~ A Basic Understanding of Infertility
Dr. Aladjem shares a basic understanding of infertility; what happens when you can’t get pregnant and what to do about it. Infertility problems are more common than one would suspect. Questions abound, public knowledge is scarce. Not too long time ago the wife of a friend of mine asked me if I could tell her why, in spite of her good health, she apparently is “sterile”. I … [Read more...]
Picking Up the Pieces
Life is full of pleasant surprises alternating with others that are painful. The painful events we attribute to the very essence of life, like the death of a loved one. We learned to accept such events as being out of our control. We mourn, cry and, eventually, time heals the emotional wounds and we remember the departed for the good memories we have of them. We never feel … [Read more...]
ZIKA Virus: An Emergent Threat to Pregnant Women and their Babies
During the past year you have probably seen, read or heard the news about ZIKA virus and its devastating effects upon the unborn child. Two years ago, if you would have asked your doctor about ZIKA virus, most likely he/she would have had no information and probably thought your information came from a TV series! ZIKA virus was not on the medical radar at that time. Today, … [Read more...]
Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey ~ Saved America from Thalidomide
Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey died recently at the age of 101. Her name, most likely, is unknown to the generation of American babies born in the sixties. Many owe their having been born healthy to Dr. Kelsey. Back in the fifties, control, supervision and approval of new drugs was almost a perfunctory process not only in USA but also in Canada, Europe and the rest of the world. … [Read more...]
How Old is Too Young and How Young is Too Old?
If the title of this blog is puzzling to you, please bear with me for the time being. Let’s start from the beginning. At birth, a baby girl is born with a pool of about 1,000,000 potential eggs in her ovaries. By the time of her first menstrual period, between 11 and 13 years of age in the majority of cases, only about 300,000 can still become potential eggs for … [Read more...]
Virginia’s Score
By Silvio Aladjem MD Prenatal Care was nonexistent at the dawn of the 20th century. The first clinics for prenatal care were opened in Boston in 1900. A few nurses and doctors thought it would be a good idea to see pregnant patients throughout pregnancy. The hope was to be able to detect a rise in blood pressure and make an early diagnosis of toxemia, now known as … [Read more...]
Dr. Silvio Aladjem Answers Your Questions ~ June/2014
The doctor is in! Every month Imperfect Women is partnering with Dr. Silvio Aladjem to bring you a column featuring Dr. Aladjem answering your questions of medical interest related to pregnancy. We are excited to bring you this feature and hope that you are able to benefit from it. Question from S. Y: I have a chocolate cyst. It is 3 cm. and I want to know if it will … [Read more...]
Miracle in Australia
By Silvio Aladjem MD Not too long ago there was an episode on “Good Morning America” about a woman in Australia who had twins. She delivered at 27 weeks. One of the twins did well from the beginning. The other one was declared dead by her doctor. You may have seen this program. If you did, please bear with me. Immediately after delivery and having been told that one of … [Read more...]
Kangaroo Care
By Silvio Aladjem MD You may or may not have ever heard of Kangaroo Care (KC). Its name was inspired by the Kangaroo, the Australian creature that stands erect on its two hind legs and has two short front legs. The female has an external abdominal pouch. Kangaroos give birth prematurely, and the newborn kangaroo climbs into the mother’s pouch where it remains until its … [Read more...]